In Sermon Illustrations: "1 Peter 4 12 14 5 6 11"

Sin No Nym

Contributed by David Dunn on Sep 29, 2025

Sin No Nym Josie loved words. She liked to clap their sounds and spell them out. One day she wrote a big word on her paper: S I N N O N Y M She giggled. “Listen! It sounds like sin–no–name.” --- Word Play at Home Daddy peeked over. “That’s funny,” he said. “What do you think it ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:12

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

The Boy And The Sprinkles

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 20, 2025

He couldn’t have been more than seven or eight. A mop of brown hair, freckles across his nose, and a handful of coins jingling in his palm as he stepped up to the counter. “Ma’am,” he asked shyly, “how much is a scoop of vanilla ice cream?” The waitress smiled. “Fifty cents.” He nodded and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:48, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Tags: Love, Humility, Gratitude, Generosity, Kindness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Modern Jericho Road

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 1, 2025

It was just after noon on a gray Thursday. Rick, a young grocery worker, had finished his shift and was heading home when a customer named Ian asked for a favor. Could Rick drive to Toronto to pick up an auto part? He’d lend him his new car and pay him a hundred dollars. Rick said yes. He ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:33-35, 1 John 3:17

Tags: Compassion, Action

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Luther: Asleep In Christ

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 1, 2025

(Martin Luther quotes about death.) “What is our death but a night’s sleep? For as through sleep all weariness and faintness pass away… so at the Last Day we shall rise again as if we had only slept a night.” Source: It’s widely reproduced in quotation databases such as AZ Quotes and Luther’s ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, John 11:25

Tags: Hope, Resurrection

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Hope For The Return Of Christ

Contributed by John Bright on Jan 15, 2026

Hope is interesting because it depends on a person's circumstances. Around the world, there are literally millions of persecuted Christians. They often to the end of the Bible for hope: Revelation 22:20 “20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 22:20, 1 Corinthians 16:22

Tags: Hope, Rapture, Maranatha, Return Of Christ, Persecuted Christians  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Fear And Division

Contributed by John Bright on Feb 3, 2026

A Simple Game Teaches Kids About Fear and Division One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter's high school class recently. They're learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game. "I'm going to come ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:10, Ephesians 4:3

Tags: Fear, High School, Division, Salem Witch Trials

Denomination: Methodist

It Is Finished

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Mar 2, 2026

It is finished. In the Nicene Creed, we confess: "On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." (Pause) What does this mean? The Scriptures share with us ... this truth: BIBLE My little ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:1-2, John 19:30

Tags: Finished, Attorney, Pleading Throne, Righteous, Forgive, Defense, Right Hand, Scriptures, Nicene Creed, Mercy, Father, Power, Advocate, Culture  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Hymns And U2

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Mar 5, 2026

For a man who spends so much time in the future, Edge always carried some deep past in his soul, likely an obscure village in Methodist Wales. Edge's father, Garvin, was a mechanical engineer, a churchgoing one. Edge's mother was a schoolteacher, a churchgoing one. Science and faith were ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:26, Philippians 4:4-10

Tags: Church, Worship, Praise

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

If There Is No God, Who Decides?

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Mar 6, 2026

In 1882, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a short parable that still echoes through Western culture. He imagines a man running into a crowded marketplace in broad daylight, holding a lantern. He cries out, “Where is God? I will tell you—we have killed Him. You and I. We are His ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15-17, Judges 2:10-15

Tags: Evil, Culture, Meaning, Good, Values, God Is Dead  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

[310]. A Message From A Poem - Though The Fig Tree Does Not Blossom

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 13, 2026

[310]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - THOUGH THE FIG TREE DOES NOT BLOSSOM There is a poem called “I Will Still Praise God My Saviour” which is longer than this one. This one may have been the first part and got added to it just later. It is the same but the last stanza is added to the other ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13, Habakkuk 3:17-19

Tags: Praise, Faithful, Fail, Exalt, Fig Tree, Blossom, Fruitless, Olive, Despondent, Setbacks, Crops, Christian Poems, Exalt The Lord  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jonathan Edwards On Spiritual Pride And Judging Others

Contributed by Alan Perkins on Mar 29, 2026

Jonathan Edwards, the preacher of the First Great Awakening in America, wrote this: , “The spiritually proud person is apt to find fault with other saints, that they are low in grace; and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are; and being quick to discern and take notice of their ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:3-6, John 14:23-24

Tags: Spiritual Pride, Judging Others

Denomination: Baptist

Passing It On

Contributed by David Dunn on Mar 30, 2026

I visited a friend for Thanksgiving. Nothing formal. Just one of those homes where you walk in and immediately feel like you belong. The kitchen was already alive—warm, a little crowded, full of movement. You could hear things happening before you even saw them. Pots shifting. Laughter from the ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 1 Corinthians 11:1

Tags: Tradition, Influence, Formation

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

When The Door Opened

Contributed by Austin W. Duncan on Apr 18, 2026

Before Cassy and I moved to Middle Tennessee, we were in West Texas. I was running a pretty small graphic design business and driving for Uber and Lyft in the evenings, and I was frustrated overall. Not because anything was particularly wrong, but because I kept feeling like I wasn't doing what ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:8, 1 Corinthians 16:9

Tags: God's Timing, Calling

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Italian Poet Dante Alighieri Criticized By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

Italian Poet Dante Alighieri Criticized by Enemies During Church Service Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5

Tags: Faults

The Vastness Of The Galaxy

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 21, 2013

THE VASTNESS OF THE GALAXY Have you ever considered the speed of light? It’s pretty fast you know — about 186,000 miles per second. Since the distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles, at this speed a "particle" of light can zip around the earth about 7 or 8 times in just 1 second. That’s a ...read more

Tags: Creation

Denomination: Independent/Bible

[213]. A Message From A Poem – Parable Of The Fence Sitter

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Sep 26, 2025

[213]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – PARABLE OF THE FENCE SITTER Uncommitted, disinterested, neutral, indecisive, impartial, indifferent, apathetic – just some English words that describe a person who does not take sides and has no real opinion about anything. When it comes to matters in the world ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:2, 1 Kings 18:21

Tags: Impartial, Indecisive, Christian Poems, Sitting On The Fence, Decide For God, A Fence Sitter, Indecision, Indifferent, Uncommitted, Neutral, Apathetic, Disinterested, Decision, Salvation, Conversion  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Good News: Finish The Race!

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 27, 2021

Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. WRONG WAY, ROY ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:13-14, Hebrews 12:1

Tags: Get Up, Finish Well

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Guidance Behind Enemy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2012

GUIDANCE BEHIND ENEMY LINES Every Monday night, when I was not sacking groceries at the Piggly Wiggly, we would go to the library in Dothan. One Monday evening, I “accidentally” found a paperback copy of William C. Anderson’s book, BAT-21. It was a story about Iceal "Gene" Hambleton, a U.S. Air ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 119:105

Tags: Golf, Christian Disciplines

The Miracle Of The Dead Sea Scrolls

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 4, 2021

In 1947, Muhammad adh-Dhib, a twelve-year-old Arab boy, made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. While looking for a lost goat in Qumran, near the Dead Sea, he threw a stone into a cave and heard the sound of shattering pottery. Curious about the noise, he entered the cave ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Peter 1:21, Hebrews 4:12

Tags: Bible, Scripture, Truth, Miracles, Dead Sea Scrolls  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Planned Parenthood Performed 244,628 Abortions ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Planned Parenthood performed 244,628 abortions last year, up 6.1% from ’03. Their FY 2004 annual report reveals the organization relied on abortion for 34% of its clinic ...read more

Tags: Abortion